The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a method and apparatus for dynamically switching video segment locations such as content delivery networks (CDNs) during live content/ad manipulation. More specifically, a method and apparatus for leveraging per-user video manifest delivery to determine a CDNs performance and track a player's CDN switch logic is disclosed.
Video streaming allows video content to be delivered to a video player via the Internet. The video content is a video signal generated by a content provider for distribution to video consumers. The video signal may be provided in an uncompressed file format, such as a serial digital interface (SDI) format, or in a compressed format, such as a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) file format or Transport Stream (TS) file format. The video signal is sent to an encoder which converts the file into a live streaming signal. The live streaming signal is preferably a segmented data stream that may be transmitted using standard Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) over the internet. The live streaming signal may include multiple streams, where each stream may have a different data rate and/or different resolution.
Two common formats for the live streaming signal include HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) implemented by Apple® and MPEG-Dynamic Adaptive bitrate Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH) implemented, for example by web browsers such as Chrome®, Microsoft Edge®, and Firefox®. In addition to the segmented data stream, the encoder generates a manifest file. The manifest file contains information for a video player to play the segmented data stream such as the data rate and resolution of each stream and a playlist providing an address from which the video content may be retrieved. Historically, the encoder has generated a single manifest file for each encoded video signal, where the manifest file is distributed along with the streaming signal.
The live streaming signal and the manifest file are stored in one or more Content Delivery Networks (CDN). Each CDN includes a number of edge servers which store the streaming signal and manifest file until requested by a video player. When the streaming signal is provided via to multiple CDNs, the CDNs may be in different geographic locations, such as the West Coast, East Coast or Midwest. Each video player may select a CDN based, among other things, on its geographic proximity in order to reduce transmission latencies.
The video player may be any suitable electronic device to receive the streaming signal such as a desktop computer, a television, a laptop computer, a tablet, or a mobile phone. A user initiates a request to view desired video content on the video player. The video player includes video management software executing on the video player which has knowledge of the address of the CDN and which may provide a list of video content stored on the CDN to the user. After the user has selected a desired video, the video player, in turn, requests that the video content be transmitted from the CDN.
During playback, transmission from a particular CDN may be interrupted or delayed for a number of reasons such as network traffic delays, power outages, etc. When there is a CDN failure and video segments cannot be loaded to the video player, the video players typically either stop playing the video stream or utilize failover capabilities.
To improve on this method, some video players which implement specific standards, such as HLS and MPEG dash standards, are configured to switch from the failed stream to an alternative failover stream, typically distributed from a different CDN or a different geographic location for the same CDN. This type of switching method occurs at the video player and is typically not reported by the player to any other systems in the video streaming environment. Some players may include additional reporting software to communicate with back-end servers. However, this type of player typically requires that the user download additional software that is not typically pre-installed on players. Further, to communicate the failure, players using this additional reporting software and back-end servers receiving the reporting must both be configured for such communication. Yet further, such communication increases network traffic for both systems.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for dynamically switching video segment locations during content provision without requiring additional software or communications for video players. What is further needed is such a method and apparatus that improves delivery of content to video players.